MISSOULA, MONT. — Will Cherry picked Miles Bobby’s pocket and passed up court to Kareem Jamar, who had a nifty no-look dish to Mathias Ward for an easy layup, increasing the Montana Grizzlies lead to 17 over the Hawai’i Warriors
MISSOULA, MONT. — Will Cherry picked Miles Bobby’s pocket and passed up court to Kareem Jamar, who had a nifty no-look dish to Mathias Ward for an easy layup, increasing the Montana Grizzlies lead to 17 over the Hawai’i Warriors with two minutes to play.
It was a microcosm of the game for the Montana Grizzlies, as the trio combined for 63 points and 16 assists, and cruised over the Hawai’i Warriors 94-79 on Saturday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont., as part of the Sears BracketBusters event.
UH streaked into Saturday night’s matchup having won four of five, but met an even hotter Montana squad. The Rainbow Warriors, coming off a comfortable 82-58 non-conference win over New Orleans on Tuesday night, couldn’t slow down the powerful tandem of Cherry and Jamar.
Jamar posted the first triple-double for the Montana Grizzlies in more than 30 years. The sophomore forward from Los Angeles had 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and nine of 13 from the line, 11 boards and 11 assists. Cherry led both teams with 24 points and five steals.
“My teammates,” Jamar said, “when they’re making shots, anything is possible.”
The Grizzlies led the Warriors 23 to 13 in assists, while Hawai’i held a slight advantage on the boards, 33-31.
“They were red-hot. Guys that normally knock down shots were knocking them down, which really stretched us out,” Hawai‘i head coach Gib Arnold said. “We were having a hard time containing them and when you hit that many 3s and you get hot, you’re playing catch-up all night.Give Montana credit.”
The Grizzlies shot 48 percent from behind the arc, hitting 11 of 23. The Grizzlies were 10 percentage points better from the field, firing at a 58 percent clip.
The Warriors, who are joining the Big West following this season, shot 49 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point land. They struggled from the line, connecting on 19 of 34.
Montana (20-6, 12-1 Big Sky Conference) furthered its win streak to nine and 15 of 16 overall. With the victory, the Grizzlies, who currently co-lead the Big Sky Conference, notched their third straight 20-win season.
Hawai’i junior Vander Joaquim, a 6-foot-10 center, was nearly absent from the box score in the first half, as Montana often doubled him. Joaquim did, however, swat Montana forward Art Steward’s shot deep into the bleachers with nine minutes to play, stunning the otherwise raucous crowd.
Hawai‘i’s big man got it together in the second half, adding 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough against a determined Montana team.
“Our guys were not going to be denied,” Montana sixth-year head coach Wayne Tinkle said. “They a mature group; they’re a focused group and it’s no surprise they handled business.
“It’s nice to get this win against a very talented team and know we can play better.”
Hawai’i’s trifecta of Joaquim, Zane Johnson and Joston Thomas, who average nearly 60 percent of the team’s offensive output, struggled all night. Thomas, playing with four fouls midway through the second half, picked up a flagrant after thrusting his arms into Griz center Derek Selvig. Thomas, who had 11 points and five rebounds, was ejected.
“We always talk about poise and character. It’s a real strength of ours,” Tinkle said. “It’s a difference-maker.” The Grizzlies poured on their best first-half offensive effort of the season, leading 47-34 going into the locker room. Montana connected on eight of 15 shots from deep and 17 of 30 from the field. The Grizzlies also shared the ball, dishing 12 assists to the Warriors’ six in the first frame.
Montana junior forward Ward, a 6-foot-7 native of Gig Harbor, Wash., led both teams in the first half with 14 points, including two 3-pointers by Cherry and a fast-break dunk turned Dahlberg Arena electric.
Down by double-digits in the first half, the Warriors made 7-0 runs twice, only to have the Grizzlies counter and stretch their advantage back.
“Any time we tried to make a run, they would knock down shots,” Hawai‘i senior point guard Jeremiah Ostrowski said.
“They came out and executed,” the ball handler added. “We just dug ourselves into a big hole, we didn’t play good defense. It’s a wakeup call for us. We try to win every game. We’ve got to get ready for our next two games.”
The Griz took a 1-0 lead before the game even started, as one of Hawai‘i’s players threw down a dunk in warmups — a big no-no from the referees — and Cherry made one of two free throws. Now the Warriors will face a 3,200-mile trek home and questions about their NCAA tournament resume.
